C-Word Dropped on C-Span's Washington Journal -- No Bleep Button?

A woman, calling into C-Span's morning show Washington Journal, used the c-word as part of her reasoning as to why John McCain shouldn't be president. Apparently C-Span does not use the 7-second delay for its live programming, though the host of the show did immediately end the call after to obscene word was uttered.

The call came just before 9:00 a.m. on the July 7th broadcast during the show's call in segment. The call in segment allows viewers to voice their opinions on any manner of topics.

Female Caller: I have two points. McCain is really too old for this job. We need somebody that can keep up. And number two. He do not have respect for women. He even called his wife a c---.

Peter Slen: (ends call) Let's move on.

For video of this click here, pertinent clip is at 2:54:36.

To his credit anchor Peter Slen looked obviously discomfited by the remark and moved quickly to the next caller while scratching his head. But within seconds leftist Web sites like Democratic Underground had people on message boards cheering the obscenity and its target with posts like “Bless that woman. Let a thousand c–words bloom.”

There are Internet rumors abounding about an alleged 1992 episode in which John McCain used the word in an exchange with his wife. The rumor appears to have started with a passage from a book, The Real McCain, by Cliff Schecter who sets out to portray an angry man who is unfit to serve as President of the United States. Schecter is a blogger at the hyper-liberal Huffington Post.

The passage quotes anonymous sources in a hearsay portrayal of something that happened 16 years ago.

At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c---." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day.

There is no mention of this occurrence in any national news outlets, even though, according to Schecter the three anonymous sources were reporters. And the quote itself seems so preposterous; it is reminiscent of the Edward Klein creation regarding Hillary Clinton, in which he reported that Bill Clinton said he'd “raped” his wife.

The mainstream media have made it a point to disavow smears against Barack Obama. While the caller to the Washington Journal was most likely repeating Internet rumors it remains to be seen whether the anti-smear mantra will be so lavishly applied to McCain.

After all such an outburst fits nicely in the “short tempered, volatile” box into which the liberal media want to stuff McCain.

Kristen Fyfe is senior writer at the Culture and Media Institute, a division of the MediaResearchCenter.

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